This invention relates generally to apparatus for effecting heat transfer between two fluids separated by a heat conducting barrier and more particularly to a means for increasing the efficiency of the transfer across the barrier.
In the technology relating to heating exchangers, it is well known that the principal impediment to the transfer or transmission of heat from a warm fluid to a cold fluid is the boundary layer of fluid which adheres to each side of the partition or barrier separating the two fluids. Even when the motion of the fluids are fully turbulent, there exists a laminar sub-layer which in conventional heat exchangers does more to obstruct the transmission of heat than the partition itself. While various methods and types of apparatus have been suggested for overcoming the problem such as by means of driving the fluid with sonic waves and vibrating the partition with external vibration generators, these measures while being effective to some extent, are inherently limited in their ability to generate a motion which is particularly adapted to minimize the thickness of the laminar sub-layer on each side of the partition.